7/24/24 - 2030 PDT
Been busy.
By now, everyone has joined the 15 knot club. Keep in mind this boat is 50' long, 16' wide and has the below deck cabin and the deck, so is close to 1,600 square feet. That is bigger than some housing I've lived in. And it displaces 36,000 pounds, so is heavier than we have common a point of reference for. Getting this thing moving 15 knots is no small task. We were all pretty excited that each of us got it there. I was not going to be satisfied until we broke 16 knots. So when Craig shattered the then trip record of 15.7 with a ripping fast 17.2 knots, there were hoots and high fives.
Winds were up and we continued fast. But we saw some holes in the A4 spinnaker. We switched to the jib and changed gears into a more conservative mode. Of course downshifting incrementally entailed lots of boat handling stuff. Along the way we discovered some things that needed maintenance attention.
While in low gear, we celebrated the halfway point. Thank you to all families for the nice thoughts and nice things! Great to feel connected, when we're about as disconnected as can be.
We've been focused on lots of boat handing stuff and maintenance. Maintenance has been far ranging, from a spinnaker to a toilet to a watchband. (Thankfully, the toilet was the easiest to fix and was not as yukky as it could have been!). This work and the wave action has thrown off sleep so we have been conservative today trying to recharge. Meanwhile, right now while Craig and David are up dealing with changing conditions, I have to finish up the dishes from pasta with meatballs that Eric prepared and get some sleep before my midnight watch.
All good.
-- Jeremy --